Sutyagin’s brother and lawyer told media organizations that he was transferred to Lefortovo earlier this week to take part in the swap and could be flown out to freedom as early as Thursday. Reports say that Sutyagin saw a list of 11 prisoners in Russia who are being traded for 10 people arrested in the United States for being unregistered Russian agents.

Officials in neither country would confirm an exchange was planned. But a meeting in Washington between U.S. officials and the Russian ambassador on Wednesday is leading manyto believe that a swap is in the works.

A federal indictment against the 11 people accused of operating under deep cover for the Russian intelligence service was unsealed in a federal district court in Manhattan on Wednesday. NPR has the story here.

“Officials tell NPR they expect the group will plead to lesser charges and then be deported to Russia. In exchange, U.S. officials have floated a list of names of prisoners in Russia who have been accused of spying for the U.S.”

Norway Arrests 3 Men in Terror Plot

Three suspected al-Qaida members were arrested Thursday morning in what Norwegian and U.S. officials said was a terrorist plot linked to similar plans in New York and England.

The men — a Uighur from China, an Iraqi and an Uzbek — are all Norwegian residents and had been under surveillance for a year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that BP will try to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico by end of July. The effort would come “weeks before the deadline the company is discussing publicly, in a bid to show investors it has capped its ballooning financial liabilities, according to company officials,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In a perfect world with no interruptions, it’s possible to be ready to stop the well between July 20 and July 27,” said the head of BP’s Gulf Coast restoration unit, managing director Bob Dudley, in an interview. He added that this “perfect case” is threatened by the hurricane season and is “unlikely.”

Both BP and the Coast Guard continue to state publicly that they are aiming to have a fix in place by early to mid-August.

Meantime, the Obama administration is expected to appeal to a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Thursday to reinstate a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium. The New Orleans Times-Picayune follows the story here.